OAKLAND — San Francisco is suing Oakland over a controversial move to add “San Francisco Bay” to Oakland International Airport’s official name, marking the start of a possible legal war between the two cities.
The East Bay aviation complex — which, like its busier competitor to the west, abuts San Francisco Bay — is seeking a new name to heighten its profile among air travelers visiting the Bay Area.
The Port of Oakland on April 11 gave preliminary approval to change OAK’s name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, sparking an immediate outcry from elected officials in San Francisco and SFO leaders. The port, which operates the East Bay airport, is scheduled to take a final vote on the matter in May.
San Francisco struck back Thursday with the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.
“We had hoped Oakland would come to its senses,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement. “The defendant’s (Oakland’s) refusal to collaborate on an acceptable alternative name leaves us no choice but to file a lawsuit to protect SFO’s trademark.”
In response, the Port of Oakland said it believes the name change won’t harm San Francisco International Airport.
“Oakland Airport’s proposed renaming does not infringe upon SFO’s trademark,” said Kaley Skantz, a spokesperson for OAK.
Port officials decided to undertake the name change, they said, because the East Bay airport’s profile has begun to wither in the economic shadow cast by SFO, and because of the East Bay airport’s physical location on the shores of the bay.
“We will vigorously defend our right to claim our spot on the San Francisco Bay,” Skantz said. “We are standing up for Oakland and our East Bay community.”
In 2023, SFO handled more than 50 million passengers, while Oakland handled about 11.24 million air travelers.
OAK officials believe the airport’s lower profile has made it tougher for the travel hub to retain routes. From July 2008 to March 2024, Oakland added 54 new routes but later lost 39 of them.
San Francisco airport officials, however, are concerned that settling on a new name with “San Francisco” at the beginning will cause confusion.
“In particular, Oakland Airport’s proposal to include ‘San Francisco’ at the front of its new name, closely followed by the words ‘International Airport’ is problematic, as it will almost certainly cause confusion among consumers and the public generally,” San Francisco stated in its lawsuit.
Officials with SFO and the city of San Francisco said they attempted to negotiate a non-judicial resolution to the proposed name change.
“San Francisco, seeking to avoid the costs of litigation for both sides, has and continues to urge Oakland to seriously consider such alternatives,” stated the lawsuit. “Indeed, San Francisco has offered on multiple occasions to engage in a constructive dialogue” regarding a solution to the situation.
SFO, which is located south of its namesake city in San Mateo County, noted that it has operated since 1927 and for most of those years used San Francisco Airport or San Francisco International Airport as its name.
“Through San Francisco’s ongoing activities, the San Francisco International Airport mark has become extensively well-known by passengers and the air-travel industry, both nationally and internationally,” San Francisco stated in the lawsuit.
“We are going all-in with Oakland,” Barbara Leslie, president of the port’s Board of Commissioners, said on April 11 just before a unanimous vote for the new moniker. “We want to keep money in the local economy.”
